Weekly Human Rights News: 14/06/2024

BIHR is offering 4 community groups the opportunity to work alongside us for 6 months to develop a resource that uses human rights to help tackle social injustice in their work. In previous years, community groups have created staff handbooks, video guides, Easy Read postcards, and digital guides for young people - we're open to creative ideas that will genuinely make a positive difference using human rights!

Applications close at 5pm on Wednesday 19th June - next week!

This offer is part of BIHR's Community Programme 2022-2025, funded by the Baring Foundation, which aims to strengthen the voice of community and voluntary groups across the UK to use human rights advocacy in their work.

We're looking for someone with established management experience in the charity or voluntary sector to join us as a Senior Manager on a maternity cover basis.

For this post, we are looking for an excellent manager, committed to supporting a small, busy, expert team to deliver Human Rights Act (HRA) practice, communications and policy work. Your operational management and strategic thinking are the primary skills and experience needed.

You do not need to be a subject expert in the HRA; that is the job of our delivery team. You must, however, like all of BIHR’s team, be a champion for our work and bring the skills, knowledge and experience needed to support our team in the planning and delivery of BIHR’s objectives.

This is an exciting role for someone with established management experience in the charity/voluntary sector, with a keen interest in UK human rights.

Applications close at 12 noon on Thursday 11 July 2024.

The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) hosts a regular podcast called Leadership Worth Sharing, which champions the dedication, professionalism, quality and expertise of civil society leaders.

This week, our CEO Sanchita appeared as a guest to talk about misconceptions about human rights, the dynamics of good governance, the joy of going to the gym at 4:30am and filling ourselves with hope for the future.

The Elections Act passed into law in April 2022. It made big changes to the way elections work – including introducing a requirement for people across the UK to show photo ID before they’re allowed to vote. In our new explainer, we talk about what the Act does, what it means for human rights in the UK and steps you can take to access your right to vote.

A man who received a notice he may be sent to Rwanda started a legal challenge against the Home Office

SM is from Sudan and claimed asylum in the UK two years ago. He received a letter from the Home Office saying his claim may be considered “inadmissible” and he may be sent to Rwanda. Home Office guidance says caseworkers should not consider whether there is a risk that Rwanda will send SM on to another country where his human rights are at risk.

SM brought a judicial review claim, saying, among other things, that this guidance is based on a “fundamental misinterpretation” of the Safety of Rwanda Act. He has also asked that, if the court says the Home Office guidance is the correct reading of the Act, the court declares that the Safety of Rwanda Act itself is incompatible with human rights (known as a Declaration of Incompatibility under Section 4 of the Human Rights Act).

Source: Public Law Project

A former family court judge wrote about the use of deprivation of liberty orders on children in vulnerable positions

Sir James Munby was President of the Family Division of the High Court from 2013 to 2018. He has dealt with many cases concerning care orders and children’s right to liberty. On Saturday 8^th June, he wrote in The Guardian about his concerns that “a deprivation of liberty order is a draconian measure only ever intended to be used as a last resort. They have now become the norm.” Sir Munby looked at figures from the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory which found that 1368 deprivation of liberty applications were made in 2023 and said this represents “a sad reflection of the catastrophic failure to provide suitable care for children with complex needs.”

Read the article